Almost an Echo
by Thalarob
Summary: It is an unfortunate truth that not all families of mundane born witches and wizards happily accept the knowledge that their children are magical. Sometimes the families response to the discovery of the child's heritage is so extreme that the memories of both the parents and the child are altered. This is the story of one such family.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** HP Universe is not mine. I make no money from this. Etc Etc.

**NB:** This is un-beta'd and barely edited. However I decided to just go ahead and post it otherwise I likely never would. Uploading it all at once (in theory, once I work out how this system works) Enjoy.

**NB2:** I've been reading fan fiction for at least 10 years now so inevitably there may be parts of this story that are similar to others. Nothing is deliberate theft, however if you think something was taken from another story, let me know I'm sure I'd be interested to read it.

**Almost an Echo.**

While not discussed often, it is an unfortunate truth that not all families of mundane born witches and wizards happily accept the knowledge that their children are magical. Sometimes the families response to the discovery of the child's heritage is so extreme that the memories of all involved are altered. In the case of the parents a specialist from the ministry is dispatched to remove all knowledge and evidence of the child from them and their household. Rather than loose new magical blood, the child is usually placed as a ward of the ministry and their memories of their family replaced, told that they have amnesia and that their families were lost in an accident. This is the unfortunate story of one such family.

Sep 19, 1990 - Wednesday

As she did every Wednesday Professor McGonagall checked her automatically generated list of mundane-born children that would require an introduction visit over the next week. 'Miss H Granger, Pink bedroom, 10 Pullens Field, Headington. Miss H Granger, Pink bedroom, 10 Pullens Field, Headington'

"That's odd, the letter quill must be malfunctioning" She said, making a mental note to check the charms. Taking out her planner she added 'Visit Granger family' for the coming Friday evening, and returned to the rest of her morning routine.

Sep 21, 1990 – Friday

Inside the Granger Household, McGonagall was starting to fear that this meeting was not going to end well.

"I assure you Mr Granger, magic is perfectly natural and that there is nothing wrong with your daughter being a witch"

"It's unnatural and I won't stand for it. Either make her normal or take her with you." Demanded the irate father, "No daughter of mine would be an abnormal monster"

The daughter in question who had been quietly standing by the door up until now started openly sobbing.

"Magic isn't something that can be cured or removed. It's a wonderful gift and children born with it should be cherished"

"A gift? A gift?! A gift wouldn't have almost burned down our house. A gift wouldn't have resulted in my wife leaving us because of all the other freak occurrences in the house. I'm not going to stand for it, you either take her with you or I'm kicking her out on the street. As far as I'm concerned she's no daughter of mine."

Professor McGonagall stared at the man for a moment after his rant. She hated visits like this, and couldn't understand how some parents could treat their children this way. It was obvious that at the very least she was going to have to take the girl with her for now.

"Mr Granger, for Hypatia's sake I will take her with me tonight. I'm going to give you the weekend to think about what exactly you are asking. Come Monday if you still feel the need to continue this detestable action then someone from the ministry will be by to finalise her removal from your care. If you change your mind before then, write on this parchment and I'll return to discuss other options with you."

With that, she turned around and tried to get the attention of the now distraught girl. "Come on, you can come with me tonight," She said soothingly "I'm sure things will be better once your father has had some time to think about it"

Hypatia shook her head in disbelief and tried to pull away. Seeing that she wasn't likely to calm down anytime soon, McGonagall pulled out her wand and stunned the girl before picking her up and apperating to the gates of Hogwarts.

ECHO-ECHO-ECHO-ECHO

Sadly, after two and a bit days of Hypatia crying and barely eating anything the deadline passed and a ministry stooge was dispatched to the Granger Residence to cast the spell that would remove all memory and evidence that Mr Granger ever had a daughter. To ease the burden on the girl, McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey decided it would be best to alter Hypatia's memories and let her think she had amnesia and lost her family in an accident.

In an unfortunate twist for our story, the stooge in question was unobservant and incompetent. Instead of doing his job properly and researching the history of the family in question to tailor the spell to fit the Granger Household neatly, he simply used the core idea that "Mr Granger never had a daughter" and let the magic do its work removing all evidence of the truth.

A competent investigator would have noticed that while many of the pictures in the house featured a bushy brown haired girl in various situations, more than one of them did in fact feature two bushy brown haired girls. A competent investigator would have looked into the pink bedroom and seen that instead of a single bed, there was in a bunk-bed. A competent investigator would have noticed that perhaps McGonagall's dictation quill was in fact not malfunctioning and realised that Mr Granger actually had identical twin daughters.

ECHO-ECHO-ECHO-ECHO

Hermione Granger was excited about finally heading home. "Brain Camp" as the kids called it, was fun but she didn't really get on well with the rest of the children there. Mainly she couldn't wait to talk to her sister about the strange letter she got the night of their birthday.

"Miss Hermione Granger,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As you are born to non-magical parents, a school representative will visit within the next week to explain everything, give you your required items list and answer any questions you may have.

Term begins for you next year on 1 September. In the event of you misplacing your ticket please trace the symbol on the back of this letter for a replacement."

Hermione just knew her sister must have gotten a letter too. It was unfortunate that they had to celebrate their birthday early since she had to leave for camp early Wednesday morning, otherwise they might have been able to open their letters together. As far as she knew, nobody had come to the camp to talk to her, so somebody must have visited their father and explained it all to him.

Hermione was almost bouncing in her seat in excitement. Magic actually gave explanation to some of the strange things that had happened over her life. Like her least favourite clothes changing colour, and books that were frustratingly out of her reach suddenly falling off the shelf.

She really hoped that Hypatia had gotten a letter. Maybe she had strange things happen as well that could be attributed to magic. When things had happened in the past she hadn't mentioned it because she was scared that it meant something bad, but as soon as they were alone she was going to talk about everything.

Looking out the window she started to recognise buildings that meant they were approaching the bus station. She closed the book she had barely looked at for the journey and slipped it into her carry bag, ready to bolt for the door as soon as it was safe to do so.

When the bus was stopped she was one of the first off, but then had to wait around for the luggage to be removed from the compartments. Oddly she couldn't see where Hypatia and their father were waiting for her. Maybe they were inside the main building or late or something.

Once she had her luggage, she headed towards the entrance but there was still no sign of them. Deciding that they just must be late, Hermione decided to take a seat in the waiting lounge with a clear view to the main doors so she could see the moment they showed up. Half an hour later she was starting to get worried, and so she decided to go to the assistance counter.

"Um, Excuse me. I came in on the last bus, but I can't find my father who is meant to be waiting for me. Can you please try to page him for me?" she asked the woman there politely.

"Sure honey, what's his name?"

"Robert, Robert Granger"

"If there is a Robert Granger in the terminal can you please come to assistance counter one. Robert Granger, can you please come to assistance counter one. Thank you" the attendant said into the PA system.

"Thank you"

"No problem honey" the woman said, before returning to what she was doing on the computer in front of her.

About five minutes later Hermione's nervous shifting reminded the attendant her presence and so she repeated the call again. After a few more minutes it was obvious that nobody was coming. Hermione's face fell, where was her father? He'd never forgotten to pick either of the girls up before.

Noticing that the girl was close to tears the attendant asked "Do you want use the phone to call somebody dear?"

"Um, yeah. I guess I'll ring home. I hope Dad has just gotten his days confused and hasn't broken down somewhere." Hermione replied as the attendant lifted the counter panel to let her into the assistance booth and passed her the phone.

After a while of ringing with no answer, she put the phone back onto the receiver. "No response, I guess he's on his way. Thanks for letting me use the phone" she said to the attendant. "I guess I'll go wait back over there again. Thanks."

Three hours and four unanswered phone calls later, the attendant walked up to where Hermione was sitting. "Aww honey, your dad still not here? I'm afraid we're just about to close for the tonight, where do you live?" She asks with obvious sympathy and concern.

"Headington, in Oxford"

Unfortunately for Hermione, that's completely in the other direction to where the attendant lives, and she has a couple of kids she needs to get home to before they destroy the place. "Is there nobody else you can call?"

"Well, yeah. I guess" Hermione lies. There isn't really anybody else nearby who she could ask to come get her, but she does have a bank card that dad says to only use in emergencies. She can get some money out from that and take a taxi home. 'I really hope dad's okay and doesn't turn up just as I leave' she thinks to herself.

"Okay good" the attendant said cheerfully and gestures to the phone while she heads off to do a few final things before she can go home. A few minutes later, she sees the girl waiting by the pick-up area out the front of the depot. "All set?"

"Yeah, they'll be here in about ten minutes" Hermione replies.

The attendant's mothering instincts rage against leaving a girl out here on her own, but she does have to get home to her own kids, and besides there is security here at the depot twenty four seven. "Okay, if you have any trouble or get scared, bash on this door and press this button to call for security alright?"

"Okay, thank-you for your help today" Hermione says respectfully before the attendant walks off to her car.

Twenty minutes later, the taxi finally shows up. Another thirty minutes after that Hermione is finally out the front of her house. Disturbingly even though it's only around nine pm, no lights are on inside the house. Pulling her key out of her carry bag, she lets herself in. Calling out that she's home gets no response so she checks the garage to find her dad's car isn't there. 'Drat, he must have broken down when he went to pick me up. I hope he's not too worried when he gets home.' She thinks to herself.

Deciding to get changed into her pyjamas and then wait for her dad and sister on the couch in the lounge, she drags her luggage up to their bedroom. When she opens the door, the handle of the luggage drops from her hand in shock. The whole room has changed. The walls a no longer painted pink, the bunk-bed is replaced with a single, all of her books posters and belongings are all gone. Worried that she somehow let herself into the wrong house, she rushes into her father's room to find that pretty much the same as she remembered. 'What does this mean? What's happening?' she asks herself, starting to become really scared.

Dragging her luggage into the lounge, she finally notices that all of the pictures of her and her sister are missing. Some of the photos around the room are similar but it's like someone has gone through and removed her and her sister from them.

Hearing the internal door to the garage open she turns to see her dad enter the room. Rushing towards him without seeing the confusion on his face she grabs him in a hug and buries her face in his chest. "Dad, what's going on? What's happened to all our photos?" she sobs before giving into her tears that had been threatening since she went upstairs.

Confused as to why this girl was in his house, Rob pries the girl's arms from around him before holding her at arm's length. "Who are you and how did you get in my house?" He asks firmly, but not harshly.

"Dad, that's not funny. Where's Hypatia?" She asks suddenly realising that her sister didn't follow her dad into the house.

"Who? I'm sorry I don't know who you are. I'm not your father, I'm not even married" Rob said becoming more confused.

"Dad, stop joking around, you're starting to scare me." Hermione said before once more attaching herself to her father's chest and starting to really cry.

Realising that the girl wasn't faking anything, and honestly believed he was her father, Rob let the girl hug him and cry. "Shhhh," he said gently rubbing her back "It'll be okay." Noticing that the girl was starting to shake he led her to the couch and sat down before she collapsed. After a few minutes of crying the girls sobbing eased as she fell asleep.

Being careful not to wake her, Rob went into the kitchen and used the phone to call the police to report the girl as a runaway.


	2. Chapter 2

The weeks that followed were traumatic for Hermione, and perplexing for many people involved in her case. After some brief searching the police had managed to track down the woman Hermione claimed was her mother. Said woman however also had no recollection of Hermione, and barely remembered a Rob Granger who she only ever had one or two dates with.

Confusingly, Hermione and Hypatia existed. That is to say, they were enrolled in school, had been to camps, even their birth records were able to be tracked down. With alarming consistency however all of the paperwork had no mention of who the girls' parents were. Even more alarming to Hermione was that Hypatia had not been seen since Hermione left for camp the day before her birthday.

ECHO-ECHO-ECHO-ECHO

A couple of months later Hermione was officially labelled as a ward of the state and lost into the system. Even though she shared the same last name, Robert Granger denied the fact that he'd ever had a daughter and even went as far to allow a paternity test which came back inconclusive. He felt bad for the girl, but he was barely able to take care of his own life, let alone be responsible for someone else's.

Hermione was sent to an orphanage, the decision made by pencil pushers who can't afford to take a personal interest in every case that passes over the desk. 'A girl with no recorded parents or relatives? Orphanage, next.' However a day or so after she got there, the matron sat her down and discussed her situation with her.

Due to her age the chances of being adopted were slim to none, as such, there was no reason for her to stay at the orphanage building. If Hermione wanted the matron knew a woman who had a loft she could stay in back in her old town so she could continue to go to her own school. She would have a 7:30 curfew and someone would check in on her every second day and bring her food and things, but she would pretty much have to live on her own.

Hermione wasn't fond of the idea of living on her own but really didn't want to live in an orphanage. She had parents, well a father anyway, even if he didn't remember her. She also wanted to stay in her home town so she could keep looking for any sign on Hypatia, so she accepted the matron's offer. So she moved into the loft (if having a single suitcase of belongings could be considered moving) and returned to school.

For the first week or so she had to field questions about Hypatia's absence but after a while everybody seemed to accept the fact that she was missing and seemed to forget about her. Hermione didn't however, every couple of days she would go to the local police station and ask if they had heard anything about her. After a while she was known on sight by all of the local police and staff and they allowed her to fuss over her sisters missing person poster, replacing it whenever it got too worn. Nobody had the heart to tell her that after so long the chances of a missing person being found were almost non-existent.

Life alone pretty much sucked but time steadily marched on. Hermione was periodically checked up on by the people at the orphanage; she went to school and continued to visit the police station.

One day in late August however her routine changed, she had gone to the police station as normal, refusing to give up on the search for her sister. As she entered the station she greeted the staff she passed by, who greeted her back, but seemed confused as to why she was there. When she got to the missing persons board, she noticed her sister's poster was missing.

A brief bubble of hope that perhaps it was removed because Hypatia had been found was quickly squashed by the pessimism bred of months of disappointment. Deciding that it had been accidentally removed, she made her way towards Officer Sarah's desk.

"Hi Officer Sarah" she said as she approached since Sarah hadn't noticed her yet.

"Oh hi Hermione, why are you here?" Sarah asked, looking like she was having trouble remembering something.

"What do you mean? I always come here on Tuesdays."

"That's right, you do. My mind is a bit fuzzy today for some reason; I can't seem to remember why you are always here though."

Hermione's mouth fell open in shock, slightly hurt. She'd been coming here once or twice a week asking about her sister, how was it possible for Sarah to forget. A little bit of fear entered into Hermione's mind as she remembered how her father had also forgotten about her and her sister.

"How can you not remember?" She asked worriedly. "I keep coming in to ask if there has been any sign of my sister."

"What? No!" was the indignant reply. "I'd remember something like that."

"Sarah! My sister has been missing for ten months now. I came over to your desk today because her poster isn't on the wall anymore"

Without responding Sarah started using the computer, bringing up a search of the missing persons database, looking for Granger. For some reason while she remembered that Hermione had mentioned a sister, she couldn't recall the name. After a moment she turned back to face Hermione.

"I'm sorry Hermione; she isn't listed in the missing person's database"

"No she's got to be, you showed me the entry last week" Hermione said, starting to get scared once again. "Check again. Hypatia Granger, Born September 19th 1989"

Sarah humoured the girl, expanding the search to other departments in the station.

"Nothing. I'm sorry Hermione, there's no mention of a Hypatia Granger in any of the stations computers"

"No No No, not again" Hermione said in disbelief before turning around and running from the station.

After exiting the station Hermione slowed to a walk, not sure where she was going mainly focusing on not letting herself cry. She couldn't understand how there could be no mention of her sister on the police computers after ten months of entries; it was as if someone had removed the information. That didn't explain how Sarah, and she assumed the rest of the police, had forgotten about Hypatia.

Deciding to check if this was an isolated occurrence Hermione thought of where else she could check to see if references to Hypatia had been removed. Her first thought was the school, however since it was school holidays that option was closed. The library! Both her and her sister had gotten library cards as soon as they had been able.

The librarians there were fond of her and so she easily convinced them to let her check the records. Opening the 'G' drawer she fingered through the cards quickly until she got towards the back, slowing when she got to 'Gr'. There; Granger, Hermione. She was almost scared to flick to the next card. Granger, Robert. "No!" She cried out, and dropped to the floor and let out a couple of sobs.

With no idea why Hermione was suddenly so upset, one of the librarians simply came over and tried to comfort her. Questions as to why she was crying went ignored until she wiped her eyes and got up.

"I'm sorry, Thank you. I've got to go" She said, not giving an explanation.

Dejectedly she walked home then threw herself onto her bed.

Why? Why would someone be removing all traces of her sister. She had the feeling that if she could check the school records, all mention of Hypatia would be removed from there also. After a moment Hermione remembered her stash of paperwork that she had collected the first month or so after her birthday. She'd been allowed to keep a copy of her and her sister's birth records.

She jumped off her bed and rushed to the draw that she kept all her papers in. Almost with relief she drew out the birth records, both hers and the one for her sister were there. Good, for a moment there she had worried that maybe she had made her sister up. She sat there staring at her sister's name for a few moments before thinking about putting them safely back in the drawer.

As she stood up another thought came to her; How? How had someone managed to remove the references to her sister? Better yet, how did people actually forget about her? It was almost like magic.

She was startled by the sound of a thick envelope falling to the floor. Speaking of forgetting, she suddenly realised that she had forgotten about this letter due to all the pain and confusion surrounding the weeks after her birthday.

"Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry"

Magic

Magic is real! Could magic be powerful enough to make people forget? Why would someone be so mean as to use magic to make her dad forget about her and her sister? Did they kidnap Hypatia? Hermione decided that magic had to have something to do with all of this; she had to find out more.

"Term begins for you next year on 1 September. In the event of you misplacing your ticket please trace the symbol on the back of this letter for a replacement"

It had almost been a year, but maybe it still worked. It was still before the September the first. Hermione turned the letter over and sure enough there was a stylised outline of an envelope, a simple rectangle with a triangle flap. She put it on the table and traced along the seven lines without removing her finger from the paper.

As soon as she finished the last line, she jerked her hand away as the outline glowed red, seconds later the space above the letter blurred and was suddenly replaced with a gilded ticket showing a red steam locomotive. Hermione had to blink to confirm that the smoke coming out of the stack was actually moving.

"Hogwarts Express: Departs Platform 9 ¾, 11am Sunday September 1st 1991. Boarding available from 9am."

Sunday September 1st, that was five days from now. Hermione didn't know what to think, she couldn't decide if she was excited or scared. In less than a week she would hopefully have a clue as to what happened to her dad and sister.

ECHO-ECHO-ECHO-ECHO

The following few days were a rollercoaster of emotions for Hermione. She couldn't make up her mind which emotion was stronger; her excitement regarding magic and everything it entailed, or fear of magic and everything it has potentially taken from her. The whole time she was pretty jumpy, any time she heard an unexpected noise she was fearful that someone was coming to make her forget Hypatia and finish the job of making her disappear.

On Friday someone from the orphanage came over with her usual weeks shopping. Hermione tried to act natural, she wasn't sure if she succeeded or if the woman simply didn't care that Hermione was acting strangely. Either way it meant that she didn't have to answer any unwanted questions.

The night of the 31st Hermione barely managed to eat dinner, and then found herself unable to sleep. For the briefest moment she managed to doze only to quickly be woken from a nightmare about people capturing her and making her forget her sister.

Looking at the clock Hermione decided that it was late enough for her to start getting ready to catch a bus to Kings Cross station. She double checked to make sure that everything she owned was in her suitcase. She briefly considered having something for breakfast before her rolling stomach made her decide otherwise.

Finally before she left the loft she decided it would only be polite to leave a note for the people at the orphanage, even if they probably didn't care for her whereabouts.

"I've gone to find my sister, I'm not sure if I'll be back. Thanks for your help. Hermione Granger"


	3. Chapter 3

The bus got into Kings Cross Station a bit later then Hermione initially expected. Looking at the clock she saw it was eight forty-five. Not that she was worried about being late, however common sense says that you cannot have a fraction of a platform and so she was worried about how she was going to find it.

Thankfully the station was well sign posted for the normal platforms and it didn't take Hermione long to find her way to platform nine. Conveniently, it shared an 'Island' for lack of a better term, with platform ten. A quick look however revealed absolutely no sign of a platform nine and three quarters.

Since it was a Sunday there wasn't a huge amount of people bustling to catch trains to work at this time of day so Hermione decided to sit near some stairs and keep her eyes open. Her hope was that somebody who knew about Hogwarts would pass by soon and she would be able to watch where they went.

A few minutes after nine she got her first break, a girl a bit older then Hermione, and two people she assumed were here parents walked past, with the father pushing a luggage cart. Most people would say that that was not particularly strange, however instead of an ordinary suitcase on the cart it looked like the girl was using a hope chest to transport her belongings.

Hermione watched as they walked behind a pillar, unfortunately when she stood up to follow them, she suddenly felt woozy and had to hold onto the railing for a sec to regain her balance. When she looked up to see where they had gone she couldn't see them.

Deciding that she didn't really want to have to get up again Hermione elected to go to where she saw the family last and try to deduce where they could have gone. She got up, walked past the pillar where she last saw them and… nothing. No sign of the family, and not really all that much of the platform left to check either.

She walked to the rear of the platform and peered over the edge. Another wave of dizziness almost overcame her so she quickly pulled back and leaned against a pillar for a moment. Looking back she worked out which was the last pillar she saw the family at again, almost a quarter of the way down the platform from her.

Hermione sighed as she realised the potential literal-ness of the platform number. She walked back down to what she dubbed 'Pillar three quarters" and looked at it. Sadly it looked exactly like any other pillar with no sign of anything magical about it. Which she admitted was probably the point since it was in the middle of a busy London train station.

She heard some muttering not far away from her on the platform and noticed that there were a couple of people standing in a group nearby. Nothing out of the ordinary really except their clothes seems a little more Victorian style than normal. Hermione managed to avoid starring however she couldn't help but notice that some of them would occasionally glare at her and sigh.

She guessed that they were probably heading to Hogwarts themselves, so why didn't they go ahead and get on the platform. Suddenly she realised that with her normal clothes and bright pink suitcase she looked like any other normal girl simply waiting for a train. As such they couldn't do anything magical to allow them to get on the platform without her seeing. They must be waiting for her to leave to keep magic a secret.

Trying not to be obvious, she started moving away from pillar three quarters but making sure to keep the group in the corner of her eye so she could see how to get on. Finally one of the group got impatient and approached the pillar. Hermione's jaw dropped when they purposefully and simply walked into it and disappeared.

Hermione waited a couple of minutes after the last of the group disappeared into the pillar before approaching it again. Taking a deep breath she gathered her courage and purposefully walked towards it. Just before she would have hit the surface she chickened out and closed her eyes. Continuing her motion, seconds later her ears were assaulted by a completely different set of noise then moments before.

Next to her on the platform was the bright red locomotive pictured on the ticket. On the platform already were various groups of people in all sorts of dress, strangely enough some of them, including men, looked like they were wearing robes. Thankfully there were enough people there that were wearing what Hermione considered 'normal' clothes that she didn't stand out. What did make her stand out from the crowd however was her bright pink suitcase, it seemed that everybody else was using chests of different sorts to store their luggage.

Not wanting to draw attention to herself Hermione quickly headed towards the first obvious entrance into the train and started looking for a compartment that didn't have anybody in it yet. Two or three doors down she found an empty one and let herself inside.

In the compartment there were bench seats on either side. Above the seats were racks obviously for luggage to be stored, unfortunately it looked a little high for Hermione to reach. She figured that if she stood on the seat she could probably manage to get her suitcase onto the rack on the opposite side. This plan however only survived for a second because when she got on the seat and reached to grab her suitcase she got dizzy again and had to let herself drop onto the cushioned bench. Resting her head against the window she was almost shocked at how nice the glass felt against her forehead.

She must have dozed there for a few minutes because when she next opened her eyes the platform was crowded with a lot more people then she had seen so far. She was suddenly struck by a wave of sadness when she saw daughters being hugged farewell by their fathers, and she was reminded that her father no longer remembered her.

Tears had just started to fall and Hermione quietly sobbing when the door to her compartment opened and closed.

"Hey, do you mind if I…" the new girl cut off mid-sentence "Oh, are you alright?" she asked after noticing the original girl in the compartment was crying.

Hermione couldn't help herself she started crying a bit harder. "I miss my family" she managed to get out between sobs. She felt the other girl sit down next to her.

"Hey now, it won't be too bad. A couple of months and you'll get to see them over Christmas" she said rubbing the crying girls back to try and calm the girl down.

"No I won't" Hermione cried "Dad doesn't remember me" and with that she started crying without restraint. She didn't resist as the new girl put her arm around her shoulders and pulled her into her side. People walking past the carriage saw the girl crying inside and decided to move on and look for a carriage elsewhere. By the time the train started moving, Hermione had cried herself to sleep.

ECHO-ECHO-ECHO-ECHO

An unknown amount of time later Hermione found herself being shaken awake. Unfamiliar with her surroundings Hermione jumped up terrified believing for a moment in her nightmare from the night before and that she had been captured.

"Hey, shhh sorry" Hermione calmed down enough to remember where she was, though she didn't know who the girl in front of her was. "I didn't mean to scare you, but we're getting close to Hogwarts so you should probably change into your robes.

Actually looking at the girl, Hermione realised that the girl was already dressed in a plain black robe with the Hogwarts crest on one breast.

A blush crept up her cheeks as she hadn't even considered the possibility that the strange dress of some of the people on the platform could be an actual required uniform.

"Oh, Um" she mumbled "I, ah, don't have any"

"Sorry?" the other girl asked, a little confused. "You don't have any what?"

"Robes. I don't have any robes" Hermione said more clearly.

"Oh, well I guess you can borrow a spare set of mine for now, but why don't you have any? They were listed on the required items list after all"

Hermione's blush deepened as she realised that she didn't have any idea what was on the required items list since she never got a visit.

"Um well, I never got a visit…" She was interrupted by the other girl before she could explain further.

"Wait, perhaps we should start over and you can tell me the whole story. I'm Susan by the way" Susan said as she passed Hermione a spare robe.

"I'm Hermione" she said as she slipped on the robe, taking a moment to organise her thoughts. "I got a letter our birthday saying I was invited to Hogwarts and that since I was born of non-magical parents somebody would be by to explain everything to us. Unfortunately I was away on camp, but when I got home a week later, there was nobody there and our room was changed, and then dad did come home but he didn't remember me" Hermione barely managed to get to the end of her speech before breaking into tears again.

A couple of minutes later Hermione managed to pull herself together and stop crying. "I'm sorry, I'm not normally that bad, but I couldn't sleep last night and I've barely eaten anything since lunch yesterday"

"It's okay, we're almost there and there'll be a feast and then you can go to bed. I'm sure everything will look better tomorrow" Susan said trying to comfort her.

Hermione tried to reassure Susan with a smile, but only managed to for a second and even that was very unconvincing.

About ten minutes later the train started to slow as it approached the final station. When the train finally stopped Susan got up ready to head off the train, however when Hermione stood she almost fell over yet again. Susan was quickly by her side and supported her as they made their way to the front of the carriage. As they made the final step onto the platform, Susan almost got knocked down when Hermione suddenly put all of her weight onto her.

"Susan" Hermione began weakly "I don't feel too good"

Unsure what to do Susan led a struggling Hermione towards a huge man that was calling for first years. As soon as she was close enough to be heard she shouted out to get the man's attention. "Excuse me, Sir…"

"'Ello There" the man started before realising that one of the girls was struggling under the weight of the other. "Oh, I see" he said, before pulling a bell out of one of his many pockets and giving it a ring.

Almost instantly a house elf appeared in front of the man. "Quickly go ask professor McGonagall to come here straight away, and then tell Madam Pomfrey to be expecting a sick student" with a nod of acknowledgement the elf disappeared.

Susan sighed in relief as the man helped Hermione stand, taking her weight off of the young girl.

"'Sall right now. Someone'll be here in a mo to help ya out. Just stay with us, kay?" He said to the obviously unwell girl who was starting to sway.

Moments later the older students were shocked to see their assistant headmistress arrive side-saddle upon her broom as she landed next to the unmissable gentleman. Shock appeared on her face as she noticed who she was called down to help.

"Miss Granger? What are you doing down here? I thought you were already up at the castle" Anything further she was going to say was interrupted when the girl almost toppled over.

Reaching over to catch her, her arm brushed against the girl's forehead. "Oh my dear girl, you're burning up" She pulled the girl towards her as she addressed the man. "I'll portkey her straight to the hospital wing Hagrid, you take care of the other first years." She then pulled a sock out of her pocket and with a muttered word vanished.


	4. Chapter 4

_Meanwhile up at the castle._

"Septima, have you seen my potions book" a bushy brown haired girl called out to her guardian who was waiting impatiently in the lounge.

"By the founders' girl, just because you've lived here at the castle for almost a year doesn't mean you should have left your packing till the last minute." Professor Septima Vector cried out in exasperation. "Anything you can't find you can always visit and pick up later. Now hurry up, students are already getting in the carriages"

"Sorry 'ma" the girl said in a too cheery voice as she emerged from her room.

"And don't forget you have to call me Professor or Miss Vector, if we're not alone. Now you better hurry down to the boat entrance and join the rest of the first years"

With a quick hug for her guardian the young girl dashed off down numerous corridors and stairs to the little used side entrance to the castle. Putting her ear to the final door she heard Professor McGonagall giving a speech about "your house is like your family." Rather than being reprimanded for being late the girl elected to wait until the stern scot had left to check on the great hall before slipping into the back of the room almost unnoticed.

Surprisingly the only person who did notice her entrance, was the person who was possibly the most shocked with the apparent change in the girl she had seen swept off to the hospital wing not ten minutes ago. Before she could make her way through the crowd to ask how she was the Professor returned to the room and told the students to form two lines and enter the hall.

"Susan Bones" before she knew it, her name was being called to be sorted. Not long after the hat was put on her head it announced that she was to go into Hufflepuff. She went and sat down with the rest of the puffs. As she sat down, she couldn't help but be amazed with how much healthier her compartment-mate looked. Puzzled with these events she barely noticed the sorting until a boy called Justin sat down next to her.

"Hypatia Granger" Professor McGonagall called out with a slightly confused lilt to her voice. Susan looked up at the professors expression and then followed her gaze to see her compartment-mate heading towards the stool. 'Hypatia?' Susan asked to herself, 'I thought she said her name was Hermione.' Looking back at the professor it seemed that Susan wasn't the only one who was surprised at how quickly the girl had recovered, regardless of what she called herself.

In her inattentiveness Susan missed what house Granger was sorted into, but that was clarified moments later as she made her way to the Griffindor table. Strangely enough instead of sitting at the empty end of the table she made her way further down the table and squeezed herself between a couple of the older students, as if she already knew them.

Before long the sorting was over and food appeared on the tables. Making sure to enjoy her first Hogwarts Feast, Susan decided to approach her friend as soon as they got a chance after dinner.

Once desert was done, and the Headmaster had finished talking crazy-talk, Susan stood up intending to try and talk to Hermione, unfortunately before she got too far the Hufflepuff prefect stood up and asked all of the first years to follow him to their new home-away-from-home for the next seven years. Looking around she saw prefects for the other three houses doing the same, however as she watched the first year Griffindors head out she saw a bushy haired figure split off from the pack and leave through a different door.

With a sigh, Susan resolved to try and catch her at breakfast tomorrow and followed the rest of her peers out the hall.

ECHO-ECHO-ECHO-ECHO

Up at the teachers table, Professor McGonagall also noticed Miss Granger slip out of the inappropriate door for the first year Griffindoors. Knowing how well the girl knew the castle by now she knew she wouldn't have any chance tracking her down, so she decided she would have to approach Madam Pomfrey later regarding how the girl was so improved so quickly.

About thirty minutes later, after finally managing to convince Albus that she really didn't need to hear about how he had liberated a bunch of round and oval men branded with the letter M from a mundane chocolate factory, Professor McGonagall was able chase up her curiosity.

Quickly making her way to the hospital wing, out of habit she carefully opened the door silently to ensure not to wake any patients sleeping there. Not that she expected any since there was none when she brought Miss Granger in earlier.

Strangely only about a third of the candles in the room were lit, giving the room barely enough light to see. Opening the office door more than the crack left so allow the nurse to hear anything happening in the ward, McGonagall let herself in. To an empty office. She must have just missed Madam Pomfrey somehow.

Heading back out to the ward she noticed that she was wrong about the hospital wing being empty. Huddled up in the middle of a bed with just a sheet covering her was Miss Granger. Seeing that the girl was shivering she pulled a blanket over her. She sat on the bed next to her for a moment, watched the shivering reduce as the girl warmed up.

With a quiet creak, her attention was drawn to the hospital entry doors to see Madam Pomfrey enter. Responding to her gesture to head to the office, McGonagall followed the nurse.

"I'm confused" McGonagall started once they were settled. "What is Miss Granger doing back in here when she looked so well at the sorting feast?"

Madam Pomfrey looked at her as if she had been sampling too many of Albus's lemon sherbets. "What are you talking about? I only recently managed to get her temperature down. That's why I was out when you came in; I was just now able to leave to get something to eat."

"What? No. I just saw her sorted at the feast. One of my lions as I knew she would be." McGonagall said proudly. "But before I could ask her how she was out of here so fast she slipped out one of the side doors, and you know how well she knows the castle now"

"Well I can assure you apart from five minutes just before she hasn't left my sight since you dropped her off here. Do you know what she was doing before Hagrid called you? She does spend awfully too much time with those Weasley twins, you don't think they've found a time turner or something to experiment with do you?"

"With them, you never know. Any idea when she's likely to wake?" McGonagall asked with a resigned sigh.

"Oh her own? Probably not before tomorrow morning. However whatever caused her to get sick made it seem like she hasn't eaten in over twenty-four hours so I should probably wake her and try to get a nutrition potion into her in an hour or so. We can try to find out what happened then."

ECHO-ECHO-ECHO-ECHO

As was starting to seem like a habit, Hermione felt herself being shaken awake. Unlike last time however it felt like she had to struggle through a thick fog to regain consciousness. Finally the murmuring she was hearing started to form actual words.

"Hypatia. Come on dear I need you to wake up for me." The unknown voice was saying.

A couple of seconds later those words actually registered in Hermione's brain and she pushed harder to wake up. Her sister was somewhere nearby, and someone was trying to wake her up to.

"Please Hypatia, I need you to drink this for me" Hermione felt her shoulder being shaken a bit more to accompany this statement.

For a second Hermione wondered why nobody was calling her name, before she realised that the people here probably didn't know who she was yet.

"Hypatia, I need you to …" Hermione finally managed to break through the fog and sat herself straight up.

"Where is she?" She said. Well tried to say, most of it came out slurred.

"Calm down dear, you were quite sick for some reason. Just sit still for a sec"

Hermione turned to the voice, but then tried to look behind her to find her sister. "Where is she, where's my sister?"

"Hypatia…" a stern voice started.

"Yes Hypatia, where is she."

"Miss Granger!" the stern voice commanded, causing Hermione to stop searching and focus on the source.

"Please drink this" the first voice said as a vial of something was put in her hands. Almost without thinking Hermione downed its contents before grimacing. It tasted foul. Thankfully a glass of water quickly replaced the now empty vial. "Sip that slowly, I don't want the potion coming back up"

Suddenly a thought occurred to Hermione. "Wait, how did you know my last name?" She asked in confusion.

"Hypatia Granger, if you do not stop this nonsense right now and tell us what you did to make you so sick, I will have Septima ground you for the rest of the year"

The various components of that statement confused Hermione in a variety of ways leaving her with a loss of what to say. She sat there with her mouth opening and closing like a fish for a couple of moments before her body decided to go with its back up plan, and blacked out.

ECHO-ECHO-ECHO-ECHO

Hypatia Granger woke with a start. She wouldn't describe what woke her quite as a nightmare but it definitely left her feeling unwell. Grabbing her wand, she cast a charm to tell her the time. It was five am.

From experience she knew it was better to wake Madam Pomfrey and find out a problem was almost nothing, then to not wake her and face her wrath when symptoms developed into much bigger problems she headed down to the hospital wing. Not wanting to unsettle her stomach more than necessary she decided to take the safe gentle route.

Quietly opening the hospital wing doors, she noticed the reduced candle lighting meaning someone was already a patient. Even though she knew she shouldn't curiosity got the better of her and she tried to get a look at who it was on the bed.

From the back the hair looked familiar; definitely a girl but she couldn't place it. Making her way quietly around to the other side of the bed, she got a rude shock when she finally managed to make the girls features.

"Madam Pomfrey" she called out in fear, backing up, almost knocking the bed behind her over.

Fearing that her patient had woken up and was about to be sick again, the nurse bolted out of her room and into the ward. Quickly making her way to the distraught girl, she only vaguely noticed that she was dressed in different pyjamas then he had transfigured for her the night before.

"Shhhh, it's okay. You were pretty sick last night but you're okay now" she softly said to the girl as she held the girl and tried to comfort her.

After a couple of minutes the girl calmed down enough to speak again. "Madam Pomfrey"

"Yes dear?"

"How can I be here, when I'm in bed over there?" Hypatia asked, pointing to the girl in the other bed.

Madam Pomfrey's head turned so fast she almost got whip-lash. Hypatia was right; another copy of her was still in the bed opposite them. Turning back to Hypatia, she lifted the girls chin so she was looking into her eyes.

"Hypatia, tell me honestly. Have you and the Weasley twins been playing with gadgets and things looking like hourglasses?"

"You mean playing with time? No way. Septima would ban me from flying for a year if she found out we were doing that."

"Okay, first things first. Deep breaths" Pomfrey waited until Hypatia had followed her instructions before continuing. "Now what did you come down here for in the first place"

"I had a bad dream and woke up feeling unwell" As she said it, Hypatia realised how childish it sounded.

"Do you remember what it was about?"

"No" Hypatia hung her head feeling even more foolish.

"Shh, it's okay. How about you just lie down here for a bit. I'll be nearby if you need me"

"Madam Pomfrey?" Hypatia quietly called out before she got too far away.

"Yes dear?"

"What is she sick with?" She asked gesturing towards her doppelganger.

"We're not sure. Since she's not you playing with time, possibly just exhaustion and malnutrition. Hopefully when she wakes up she can tell us what happened" Pomfrey said before exiting into her office.

Hypatia couldn't help but stare at the girl in the bed opposite for a long time. The last thought before she fell back asleep was. 'It's almost scary how much we look alike; we could almost be twins'

ECHO-ECHO-ECHO-ECHO

For the first time in a couple of days Hermione woke up peacefully and on her own accord. A little bit unfortunately for her however, when she did open her eyes, she assumed she was dreaming since in the bed across from her, she swore she could see her sister for the first time in around a year. Moments later she fell back asleep with a smile on her face.

ECHO-ECHO-ECHO-ECHO

Hypatia awoke to the sound of Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall quietly discussing results while periodically flicking their wands towards her and the girl on the bed next to her. With one final comparison Madam Pomfrey said something in a definite tone, which resulted in McGonagall's face dropping from a look of concern to one of absolute horror. In a slightly louder voice then she was using previously Hypatia heard her say "It's all my fault. That poor girl, it's all my fault."

As Hypatia was about to get out of the bed, McGonagall left the room muttering about needing to check something. Seeing that Hypatia was awake, she gestured for her to come to the other side of the room.

"What's the matter Madam Pomfrey?"

"Sit down for a bit dear, I need to explain something to you" the nurse said, twisting her wand in her hand nervously.

Hypatia did as she was told and waited for her to continue.

"As you know, sometimes a child can be born to non-magical parents. Now in our country the families of these children aren't told until they are chosen to attend a magical school when they are eleven. Unfortunately most people fear what they don't understand, and in some cases this fear can cause people to act in terrible ways."

"You mean, some parents are afraid of their kids when they find out they can do magic? That's not fair!" Hypatia interjected.

"Yes I'm afraid so. In some cases the ministry of magic has to intervene in these families to prevent the children being hurt. When they do this, they modify the memories of the parents so they forget about magic, and as a result they usually forget about the child. In some cases depending on the reaction of the parents, we also have to modify the memories of child as well" Madam Pomfrey's pause was a fraction of a second too long and Hypatia put the pieces together.

"I didn't have amnesia did I." it was more of a statement then a question. Pomfrey shook her head in confirmation. "But what about her?" she asked gesturing to the girl still asleep in the bed across the aisle. "We look like we're identical twins"

Madam Pomfrey didn't directly answer her question. "You might not know how it works exactly, but admission to Hogwarts is reasonably automated. There is a master book that records the birth of every magical child in the country. When they turn eleven, two quills that have been spelled to the book start to work. One writes the invite letters to all of the students invited, the second writes out a list of all students who are born of non-magical parents so the deputy headmaster knows what families need to be visited."

"Almost a year ago on the week of your birthday, Professor McGonagall checked the list and thought that one of the spells had started to fail. This was because on the list was two lines that were exactly identical. "Miss H Granger, Pink Bedroom, 10 Pullens Field, Headington"

When Professor McGonagall went to your house to explain magic to you and your family, the only people there were you and your father. When he was told about magic he demanded that magic be removed from you so you could be "normal" and when he was told that that couldn't happen he demanded that we take you away from him otherwise he'd kick you out onto the street."

Professor McGonagall didn't feel safe leaving you there with him so she brought you back here, and told him he had until Monday to change his mind before his memory was altered so he didn't remember magic or having a daughter. He didn't change his mind and so it went ahead" At this point tears were falling down the nurses cheeks. "You were so distraught. You just sat on the bed and cried, you barely ate and you wouldn't talk to any of us. It was decided that it would be best if you had your memories altered so you didn't remember your childhood or family, and we let you believe that you had amnesia from an accident."

Hypatia went to say something, failed, swallowed and then tried again. "But what about her?"

"We don't know. She must not have been home for some reason, and since Professor McGonagall didn't have any reason right to examine the rest of the house, she had no idea that there was more than one girl living there. To make matters worse, as far as we can tell you two are identical so any photos would have been glanced over as being the same person.

There should have been failsafe's though, before the ministry modifies the memories of the family they are meant to do a thorough check to make sure that there are no loose ends to make people question what happened to the child. A second daughter is something that should have been noticed. From some things she said when we woke her last night indicate she knows about you though, so her memory obviously wasn't erased. She hasn't been taken care of properly though. Unfortunately we won't know anything else until she wakes up."

"Madam Pomfrey, can my memory be restored?" Hypatia asked, already dreading that the answer was going to be no.

"I'm sorry child, but once a memory has been removed it's almost impossible to restore without the original" Pomfrey said regretfully.

A couple of minutes later Professor McGonagall made her way back into the ward.

"Her name is Hermione and she's older then you by about two minutes" she said to Hypatia.

A small smile graced Hypatia's face. "Can I wake her up? I want to meet her again"

"We should probably talk to her first without here so she can get used to the idea of what happened gradually, I don't like how often she has blacked out recently. Do you mind waiting in my office until I call for you?"

"I guess" Hypatia agreed reluctantly.

ECHO-ECHO-ECHO-ECHO

"Hermione" Hermione was reasonably pleased to be woken up to her own name this time. She stretched and habitually looked towards where her alarm clock should be before remembering she wasn't in the loft anymore.

She rolled over to see the two women she vaguely remembered from the night before.

"Good morning dear" the woman in white started "Are you feeling any better today? Can you sit up for me?" Hermione nodded and proceeded to sit up while the nurse adjusted the pillows so she was comfortably supported. "Good, now can you take this for me?" She asked while handing her a new vial of nourishment potion. Hermione scrunched up her nose before swallowing it in one go, then handed the vial back reaching for the follow up glass of water. "Ah I see you remember that from last night. Do you remember anything else?"

Hermione cleared her throat and had another drink before replying. "Um, I think you called me Hypatia." Hermione's memory of the night suddenly was a lot clearer. "You definitely called me Hypatia. More than that, you acted like you knew her. Please if you know where my sister is, you have to take me to her!" The last ended up in a cross between a demand and a plea almost ending in tears.

"Oh my darling, I'm so sorry but we need to know what has happened to you since your birthday and find out why you're sick." It took all of Madam Pomfrey's resolve to not give in and call Hypatia over. She was shocked that Hypatia hadn't come over on her own to be honest.

She was further shocked when she saw Hermione's face change from a look of despair to a look of anger. "Why? So you can erase the remaining proof that my sister exists and then what? Are you going to erase my memory of her too?" The anger didn't last long before she fell to despair once more. "God, why did you people do this to us? Why did you take my sister from me? Why did you make our father forget about us? What did I do to deserve this?" Hermione broke down in tears once more. Both older women just stood there stunned at the pain and anguish that filled the girl's words.

Seconds later both women were almost knocked off their feet. Hypatia rushed past them in order to reach her sister and engulf her in her arms. "Shhh Hermione, I'm here. Somehow we'll make this better I promise."

"Hy-Hypatia?" Hermione asked hesitantly. "Oh my god, Hypatia I thought I dreamed you being here" Both twins held each other in a death grip while they cried.

After a few minutes the girls separated a little. Hermione wiped some of the tears from her eyes and smiled at her twin. "I've been looking for you all year, where have you been?"

Hypatia looked down at the bed where they were still holding hands. "I… well, I was made to forget" she said guiltily. "I'm so sorry" and new tears started to flow.

After a moment Hermione let go of one of Hypatia's hands. Hypatia followed its path until it reached her face and wiped away some of her tears. "You don't remember anything?" Hermione asked sadly "Not even when mum left? And we made up that stupid routine to stop ourselves from crying?"

Hermione shifted onto her knees so she could get a bit closer to her sister. She grabbed Hypatia's hand and put her palm against her cheek before mirroring her with her palm on Hypatia's cheek. Hermione's thumb stroked down Hypatia's face wiping away the tears on her left cheek and then the ones from the right. A fraction of a second later Hypatia copied her actions. Almost instinctively Hypatia brought her hand back to her own face at the same time as Hermione did the same to draw new lines on their own cheeks. Then Hypatia tilted her head forward as Hermione planted a kiss on her forehead, then Hypatia kissed Hermione's before they put their foreheads together and both said "I love you"

As if a dam burst, memories returned to Hypatia. The good ones the bad ones and unfortunately the ones from when McGonagall had come to visit. Hypatia started crying again. "Oh my god Hermione, I was so scared. Dad was so angry, and I didn't know what to do. All I wanted was to find you, but I was worried that you were going to hate me for being a witch too. Then they brought me here, and I was worried what dad was going to do when you came home, but then whenever I went to tell someone about you all I could do was cry and then suddenly it was too late and I didn't remember anything. I just felt so alone.

Hermione held Hypatia while she cried herself out, crying a little herself. "It's okay, we're together again now. Well make things better, together"

ECHO-ECHO-ECHO-ECHO

**Authors post note:**

So that's that. Thanks for reading. Was an idea that occurred to me one night and hence caused me to be unable to get to sleep for ages. A couple of days later I stayed up and wrote the whole thing overnight.

This is actually the third (well fourth, but I don't like to talk about one of them) story that I've thought up for the HP universe. It's the first that I've actually sat down and wrote though. The other two stories are pages of timelines and notes. I've read notes from other authors regarding how reviews encourage them to write more so if I get some for this I might actually put some serious work in for them.

After deciding to get off my arse and post this I re-read it this morning, and I'll admit there are a couple of parts that I'm in hindsight not too fond of, especially the ending, but not enough to be inspired to do a rewrite.

So yeah, please let me know what you think.

Thanks, Thalarob.


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